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Fire departments keep a bad situation from getting worse

A bad situation could have been much worse on Father’s Day. The Silver City Fire Department, along with other agencies, were able to contain a house fire from spreading into the neighborhood, despite not having access to water.

Fire departments keep a bad situation from getting worse

A single wide mobile home caught fire because of a window mounted air conditioner that failed and burst into flames on Father's Day. Two firemen also were injured during the incident.(Photo: Danny Udero/Sun-News)Buy Photo

SILVER CITY — A bad situation could have been much worse on Father’s Day. The Silver City Fire Department, along with other agencies, were able to contain a house fire from spreading into the neighborhood, despite not having access to water.

The Fire Department had just finished battling a grass fire on Cottage San Road when it was dispatched to a structure fire on the 1400 block of Hwy 90 S, near Victoria Street.

“When firefighters arrived on scene there was no access to water,” Silver City Fire Chief Milo Lambert said. “The nearest access to water was across the road at the Hilltop Chevron. We had to be very judicious in the use of water to keep it from spreading.”

The Fire Department’s mission became critical to containing the fire to just the single wide mobile home until water tenders from the Whiskey Creek Volunteer Fire Department and Tyrone Volunteer Fire Department were on scene.

“Whiskey Creek and Tyrone shuttled water back and forth to keep us supplied,” Lambert said. “Containing it was our initial response, but once the tankers got there we went into full extinguish mode. Our guys did an outstanding job of keeping it from spreading.”

According to Lambert, a resident was at a neighbor’s house when they saw the fire erupt. Lambert’s investigation concluded that it started from a window mounted air conditioner that failed and burst into flames. He stated that another resident opened the back door to get the dog out and that’s when the fire spread to the back immediately.

“They tried to rescue the dog,” Lambert said. “I don’t know what happened to the dog. I couldn’t find the animal inside the trailer after I walked through it (yesterday). We have hopes that it may have escaped and is running around the mountainside there. But, those chances are slim.”

Two firemen were injured during the incident. The first was a Tyrone volunteer who succumbed to heat exhaustion. Lambert stated that he was fully bunkered up and on air and that adds another 30 to 40 degrees to your body temperature.

“He was working diligently,” Lambert said. “It catches up to you before you know it. He came out and went to his knees. We transported him to the emergency room (Gila Regional Medical Center). He came out of it real well. He was released a short time later. It was a scary moment.”

The other fireman was from the Silver fire department. He picked up a section of hose and it burst and hit him in the face. They were using foam at the time and the foam got sprayed into his eyes.

“I believe the hose or nozzle hit him in the face,” Lambert said. “We called poison control to find out the exact specifics of the foam and what it would do and they told us to flush his eyes out for 15 minutes and if he was still in pain to take him to the hospital. We erred on the side of caution.”

Lambert explained that he had minor damage to his corneas and scratched both of his eyes. He was released a short while later and back to work.

“The eyes heal very fast,” Lambert said. “We were lucky in that capacity.”

Lambert expressed the teamwork that was displayed between all agencies involved. The accessway to the mobile home was a small narrow road that went up the side of the mountain. He stated that if another incident were to occur in Silver City while they were fighting the fire, it would have taken them at least 20 minutes to back out and get back down the roadway. For this reason, Whiskey Creek and Pinos Altos stood on standby to keep the city protected in case there were any more incidents.

“They did us a great service with that,” Lambert said. “They sat in their trucks and they were ready to go in case there were more incidents in the city.”

Lambert also added that his firemen that were off duty enjoying Father’s Day with their friends and families also dropped everything to come into work and help out.

“It was a bad situation that could have been much worse,” Lambert said. “Luckily, the department did what they are here for. Our training and expertise showed through on this one. The volunteer departments that responded were invaluable. I am very appreciative of their help. We could not have had this kind of response without their assistance. With that we were able to contain it just to the scene.”

The mobile home was a total loss and there was also a vehicle parked out front that got burnt.